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While most businesses are still slowly waving goodbye to serial
ports and serial peripherals, USB is already moving on to its
next-generation form. The current standard, USB 1.1, is found in 99
percent of PCs presently shipping, according to Cahners InStat
Group. But expect USB 2.0 to arrive in force in the coming
months.

The main difference between the two generations is speed. USB
1.1 operates at a speed of 12Mbps, while USB 2.0 hits up to
480Mbps. Loosely translated, USB 2.0 peripherals are capable of
working about 40 times faster. That's good news for digital
video, video-conferencing and speedy printing. Expect increased
speed from all kinds of USB peripherals, including external drives,
scanners and digital cameras.

All the best features we know and love about our current USB
will remain. Devices will still be hot-swappable, meaning no pesky
process of shutting your PC down to unplug or plug in. Even the
cables and connections will look the same. Simultaneous multiple
high-speed devices will also be supported. Move over, SCSI.

Now that we're finally getting used to USB in the first
place, are we going to have to throw away our old USB 1.1 devices?
Fortunately, USB 2.0 is backward-compatible. You won't have to
replace anything in order to function with the new specs and
hardware. Visit the official USB Implementers Forum site at
www.usb.org to keep tabs on the
latest developments.